Matrimonial Daydreams
by skadoo
Summary: Janeway and Chakotay ditch the parameters and discuss things with the senior staff. A sequel to my story, "Benefits of Daydreaming."


Title: Matrimonial Daydreams

Author: skadoo

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I make no profit from any of this. I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Rating: K+ for innuendo.

Summary: Janeway and Chakotay ditch the parameters and discuss things with the senior staff. A sequel to my story, "Benefits of Daydreaming"

Feedback: Is always appreciated, please read and review each story you read on FFN.

Author's Note: Thank you to Mrs. Singing Violin for her excellent duties as Beta.

Kathryn lay with her eyes closed and stretched languidly, trying not to wake him up. _I should feel satiated – yet I don't. I feel delightfully wicked this morning. I should have tossed those parameters away a long time ago. I've been wanting this, and him, for years. Why the hell did I wait so long? Don't pinch me, if I'm dreaming… _

He opened his eyes moments later to the familiar illusion of her lying next to him, her hair spread across the pillow, a half-smile on her lips. _I've seen this picture before, a thousand times. She always disappears just before I touch her. _He reached out and to his delight, she opened her eyes.

He leaned in to kiss her and was startled when she pulled away slightly and covered her mouth mumbling, "Wait… morning breath."

Chakotay's delighted laugh, as he gathered her into his arms and kissed her anyway, was mildly puzzling to her.

He explained as he traced a finger down her face, "I'm glad I'm not hallucinating and that I'm not dreaming this time. If I had been, that wouldn't be the response I'd dream up."

It was her turn to chuckle as her hand lazily played with his chest hair. "No. I guess, if you were, you'd be thinking more along the lines of our middle-of-the-night romp perhaps?" _Glad I was awake. _"I may never regret having insomnia again. But at our age, I'm not sure how long we can keep up the… ah… late night shenanigans." 

He grinned wickedly at her, "You did seem to lay down the gauntlet last night."

Kathryn had the grace to look properly chagrined as she remembered her comment of the previous evening as she snuggled into his embrace. "I didn't mean that as an order, Chakotay." She punctuated her words with her hands "More of a… goal to strive for, so to speak."

He watched the light dance in her eyes as she smirked up at him. "It's nice to know that you can rise to the occasion when the situation warrants it."

He whispered into her ear, "You inspire me," and was glad to see an anticipatory shiver of delight. He was serious for a moment, "Are you sure of all this?" He swept his hand over them, indicating the two of them as a couple.

She surprised him by saying, "No." At his stunned reaction, she continued, "But I didn't say I regret this... or us.

"It's just that I'm not exactly sure that I'm necessarily the best thing for you. You know that captain you work for can be a stubborn, driven workaholic who's always had trouble balancing her work and her relationships." She ended her third-person admonishment there. "I don't want to hurt you. But are you going to tell me you don't have any doubts?"

He began by addressing her first statement. "I would call my captain tenacious, not stubborn. And as for those other adjectives you used, they are equally present in most starship captains. The good ones, at least. As for doubts? I'm not expecting perfection. So, are you getting cold feet?"

"As I reminded myself earlier, two data points don't make a trend." She continued after seeing the confused look on his face. "Meaning my two interrupted engagements don't mean anything besides bad luck. But I am hesitant to be under the scrutiny of this ship's crew."

Chakotay loved teasing her and he decided more levity was warranted. He tried to tone down his playful smirk for a moment, anticipating the reaction his next statements were going to elicit.

"You know, we haven't exactly talked about how many children we might have."

She raised her eyebrows, "I think _that_ discussion may be a tad bit premature."

He continued on in a calm tone, hoping he could get it out without giving himself away, "I was hoping we'd be able to field a couple of Parisses Squares teams. You have to have at least two teams to properly…"

Kathryn gasped and turned in his arms, interrupting his reverie. "Eight children! That's easy for you to say." She playfully punched his arm, "You won't have to give birth to them all! I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble but I don't think we can manage quite that many, you know, before …"

"I dunno… anything's possible," he nuzzled her hair.

She rolled her eyes at the extent he was willing to take his little joke.

He offered up, "You already have Lily."

At the mention of _Voyager's_ youngest passenger, her face lit up. "If someone had told me that I would adopt a Borg foundling and then surrender to the idea of us, almost a year after that… I'd have laughed myself silly." _And it would have warmed me on many a lonely night._

Chakotay continued sincerely, as he caressed her shoulder, "You could say you've been a maternal figure to Kes, and what about Seven and Harry? That's four already. And then there's the rest of the crew, although I guess every good captain has to invoke a little 'parental authority' at times. It all depends, really, on where you start the count."

"Kes," she sighed loudly. She sat up as she remembered the young Ocampan woman, "I miss her. But to call our relationship strictly maternal would be unfair to her: she was my daughter, my sister, my friend…"

_Dammit, I shouldn't have mentioned Kes, but I can't pretend she didn't exist._ He sat up as well and reached over to take her back into his arms as they leaned against the headboard. Kathryn snuggled into him more firmly and indulged in a small melancholy moment.

She looked up into his eyes and saw his discomfort at her reaction. "It's okay; it's never wrong to remember. And besides, she's not dead. She evolved. I choose to believe that we'll see her again someday, under better circumstances." She tucked her hair behind her ears and agreed regarding the former Borg, "I guess the mentor/maternal line is a bit more blurred with Seven."

"You're her captain, mentor, mother, coach, probation officer… she's been a bit of a challenge for the command team." He mused, "Seven's the perpetual teenager rebelling against authority."

"Okay, just don't share that thought with Seven. But I've never thought of Harry as a son. He's no orphan." _Like the others._

"True, but after he defied you with that Varro woman? You told him you saw him differently from everyone else, expected different things from him. Until then, he'd always been the earnest boy scout who could do no wrong. He's the only member of the crew who quotes Starfleet regulations more than you do."

She raised her eyebrows at him and refused to consider further that she might be using the crew as proxy children. "Well, either way we count them… it might make for rather lopsided Parisses Squares Teams. I can't imagine Seven and Lily competing in the same arena anytime soon." She suddenly noticed the time as she glanced at the old-fashioned chronometer — a gift from her mother — sitting on the night stand. "If we're not careful, we're gonna be late for the morning briefing."

He tugged her out of bed as he stood up, "Not if we shower together, but I promise, no… shenanigans. I know how much you hate to be late."

==/\==

The command team managed to be sitting apparently calmly in the ready room just minutes before the rest of the senior officers and department heads piled in, giving them the illusion of having been there for a while. They were surrounded by PADDs with the day's reports, looking much as they did the previous evening on the mess deck. The only hint that things might be different was the sight of the first officer holding the captain's left hand resting upon the table. To the senior staff's consternation, the captain and first officer kept all discussions on routine business and avoided referring to what was on everyone else's mind: Chakotay's very public marriage proposal.

At the end of the briefing, the captain dismissed them, but no one moved from the table. All of them remained seated, looking expectantly at the command team and then at each other.

Tom's elbow nudged the taciturn Vulcan, and Janeway turned toward her oldest friend. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he'd sighed slightly before speaking.

"I believe, Captain, that all assembled are interested in ascertaining your response to the commander's question."

"And what question might that be?" Kathryn tried not to smirk as she glanced slightly sideways towards Chakotay. It wasn't the first time the two old friends had engaged in their own silent discussion. While to many in the room, she looked like a cipher, he could read her like a book. After twenty years of friendship, she knew he was accustomed to her quirks, but she respected him enough to try to keep her mounting exuberance at bay, lest she falter and hug her friend fervently in her happiness.

The momentary flicker of Tuvok's eyebrow was enough to communicate his regard towards them both.

Before she could properly respond to Tuvok's politely worded query, B'Elanna reached over and grabbed Kathryn's left hand out of Chakotay's grasp. "I can't stand it! Did you accept? "B'Elanna looked at her captain in mild confusion. _I would have guessed no…but he seems so happy?_

After the chief engineer dropped her hand with a thud, the captain struggled to keep from bursting into a muffled fit of laughter._ The expression on her face… _

Chakotay rested his hand against the captain's lower back before leaning over towards B'Elanna and finally answering, "She did," and then took a sip of his tea to hide his self-satisfied look from view. He was only moderately successful.

"I thought a ring was customary among humans?" mused Seven.

"I guess they've opted not to have a traditional engagement ring." Harry noted, flashing a look at the others in the room.

Janeway chuckled. "And let him waste all those replicator rations? If the next few weeks prove as chaotic as the last few, I'm going to need those for important things, Mr. Kim... like coffee." She ceremoniously hoisted her cup toward the group before taking another sip.

"A woman in your condition should be cutting back on the coffee consumption," lectured Tom.

She put her coffee cup down abruptly. "But …"

Chakotay leaned forward to whisper in her ear, silencing her protests for the moment. "Told you they'd think you're expecting. It's the latest scuttlebutt." He smiled lightly as he watched them all out of the corner of his eye. He continued to whisper, "Play along. It's time we beat Paris at his own game with a little inside information."

A half-smile flitted across her face as she considered his words. _Anything to tweak our fine helmsman. Teach you to run a betting pool… _She cleared her throat and looked up toward her self-appointed nursemaid. "The Doctor lectured me long enough last night about my eating habits, Mr. Paris. I'm aware of my limitations. You needn't concern yourself."

Neelix counted out on his fingers as he reviewed his list, "We'll need to figure out the food, location…"

B'Elanna added, "Bridal party members, bridesmaid's dresses…"

Chakotay interjected before they crew got carried away in their planning. "B'Elanna, as my oldest friend on board _Voyager,_ I hope you can be my best man."

The chief engineer smiled warmly and reached out to squeeze his hand.

Kathryn added, "I guess that leaves you, Tom, as my matron of honor, since Tuvok will have to officiate."

Chakotay leaned in to whisper again in her ear, "So should we make Seven the flower girl? And Harry the ring bearer?

Kathryn had to turn away for a moment and bite her lip to keep from laughing.

The helmsman beamed at the command team. "I'd be honored...just don't stick me in a bridesmaid dress."

The captain remarked, "I forgot you have two older sisters. Which one was it who dressed you up like a life-sized doll? Moira or Kathleen? _Hmm, how soon before we are going to have to worry about sibling rivalry?_

"Both. I guess they would have preferred a younger sister," Tom acknowledged, "but I managed to get my revenge once or twice." He smiled fondly as he remembered that part of his childhood.

The orange-haired Talaxian stopped for a moment and quietly volunteered, "I'm scheduled to depart _Voyager_ later this week."

Chakotay tried to comfort the cook, "We're sorry, Neelix. We didn't exactly plan to leave out any member of the Voyager family."

Tom nodded at Harry, "I'm sure Neelix will be disappointed to miss these wonderful events." _This all depends on how pregnant she is, anyway._

Harry jumped in and added, as he looked toward Neelix, "I'm sure you will."_ Maybe I can finally win one of Tom's betting pools?_

Neelix finally caught on. "I've been traveling with all of you for nearly seven years. I'd hate to miss the nuptials, and…"

Seven interrupted, confused, "I thought you couldn't possibly plan a wedding in so short an interval?!"

Tuvok wrinkled his brow. _What they seem to be suggesting is illogical and unnecessary._

Harry leaned in toward his commanding officers and offered, "The Kimtones and I can cover the music. It will be our gift to you."

The first officer challenged, "Why not? Why can't we plan this today, this week?" _The longer we take to plan this, the more likely one of us will volunteer to step out of an airlock as the crew drive us crazy with the details. Tom and B'Elanna didn't take long to arrange things. _

B'Elanna tried to surreptitiously examine the captain's profile through her uniform. She volunteered, "I think a couple of the ensigns in the science department have a lot of it planned already." At the puzzled looks she got from everyone assembled, "Gives them something to talk about while running experiments and such, they planned Tom's and my wedding. That's how we got it done in short order."

_It's not like I'm some dewy-eyed young thing with a hope chest. I've made us wait long enough with parameters… _Kathryn paused and looked at all of them around the conference table before suddenly breaking into a big smile. "Neelix, it might be nice for you to invite our Talaxian friends to the wedding. We can combine it with your going away party."

The former Borg asked, "You don't mind turning over the wedding planning to someone else, Captain? In my explorations of normal human relationships, I've been told that some women start planning their weddings as little girls."

Kathryn turned to look at her protégée. "Seven, a wedding is a day, and a marriage is a lifetime. I'm perfectly happy to let someone else do the planning."

She captured Chakotay's gaze and he reached over to grab her hand once more before making a suggestion. "As for the location of the ceremony, I have the perfect place in one of my holo-programs…" She raised her eyebrows in question. "…on the banks of a small river."

For a moment, they were the only ones in the room when she added, "Only if you have that boat you promised."


End file.
